


allegory

by song_of_staying



Series: literary analyses [2]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Ballads, Body Horror, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-01 21:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11495550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/song_of_staying/pseuds/song_of_staying
Summary: There is a collection of folk ballads, Cordelia learns, all about a builder.





	allegory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zdenka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zdenka/gifts).



There is a collection of folk ballads, Cordelia learns, all about a builder. He was so loyal to his Emperor that he built his great work - a wall, or a bridge, or a bunker - with the ashes of his wife mixed into the mortar. Or with her body, trapped between bricks, making her a literal pillar of the home. The whole thing is as architecturally unsound as it is gruesome, and it varies considerably by language and era. Aral nods when she brings it up. “At least the builder usually goes mad,” he offers. It doesn’t feel like that’s enough.


End file.
